


xoxo

by ivyclub



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyclub/pseuds/ivyclub
Summary: Taeyong pops the question when they’re in public a lot: in between filming or in the waiting rooms of music shows. He’ll ask Mark for a kiss right before the start of an interview, when everyone and their cameramen are sat down and ready to talk, when all the members watch intently to see if Mark will go through with it, when every camera is rolling to get behind-the-scenes footage.or: five times taeyong asks for kisses, and the one time mark does instead
Relationships: Mark Lee/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 26
Kudos: 186





	xoxo

**Author's Note:**

> i think about how mark used to give taeyong kisses when he was younger a lot.
> 
> and also happy birthday to our valentines boy jaehyun <3

(1)

“Mark! Come give me a kiss?”

It was a semi-regular occurrence: Taeyong would ask Mark to give him a kiss, and Mark would more often than not refuse. One the rare occasion that he complied, in the safety of their home and with no one around, Mark would come padding over, and despite being slightly taller than Taeyong, he would get on his tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to Taeyong’s skin.

When he was younger, he gave in significantly easier to Taeyong’s requests, too naive to deny him anything when Taeyong had been so kind to him. But he’s 22 now for pete’s sake! Taeyong could live without a kiss or two from Mark; and as Yuta told him before, it would do him some good to stand up for himself sometimes.

Sometimes.

Taeyong was always so kind to him in so many ways, it felt almost wrong to deny him something as simple as a kiss. Most days, Taeyong will settle with a quick peck to the cheek and all will be well. Only a few seconds of blushed pink embarrassment on Mark’s end and nothing else. It's so small and harmless, Mark might even reconsider his refusals, even if he really does not want to.

To be fair, Taeyong pops the question when they’re in public a lot: in between filming or in the waiting rooms of music shows. He’ll ask Mark for a kiss right before the start of an interview, when everyone and their cameramen are sat down and ready to talk, when all the members watch intently to see if Mark will go through with it, when every camera is rolling to get behind-the-scenes footage.

Like today, right now, when they are in the middle of a photoshoot for their season's greetings between the box lights as they watch the members take their solo photos. Mark likes watching them sometimes, tucked away among the crowd of stylists and folding chairs, almost blending in were it not for his recognizable stature and perfectly styled dress, not a thread out of place.

Taeyong picks him out easily because he calls his name, asking the age old question. He’s sitting down in one of those folding chairs near the back of the set while waiting his turn for the photos, their manager standing idly next to him.

“What?”

“For good luck?” Taeyong tacks on.

"Taeyongie-hyung," Mark whines, walking closer to him anyway. "I'm old, I'm too old."

"Says who?" Taeyong’s hand goes to his chest, feigning hurt.

“Jisung is still a baby, why don’t you ask him?”

“It’s not because you’re younger than me, Mark, I just want them from you.” He turns his face so his cheek is to Mark. “Just one, hmm? It’s been so long.”

Hesitating, Mark looks around to find no one watching, and he bends to peck Taeyong’s cheek lightning fast. Honestly, he can’t really tell if his lips even touched skin, but he pulls back anyway and sees Taeyong, smiling widely.

“That was barely even a kiss,” Taeyong says, standing up. “It’s okay, maybe you really are too old now for that.”

Mark feels a little guilty, and before he can stop himself, he’s reaching out for Taeyong as he walks past him. He catches him by the wrist and tugs him back, leaning in once more to kiss Taeyong’s cheek with his nose pressing into the older’s cheekbone- something definite for Mark to know that he really did do it this time.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad. The way Taeyong had brightened up after, energy up a little higher, made Mark not mind as much.

(2)

Hearing how Taeyong was and the reputation he had as a trainee made him intimidating to Mark by default when they first met. Given he was also five years older, Mark felt his knees shake nearly every time his name was even mentioned, though thankfully that passed quickly. In fact, all the intimidation passed within days of meeting him formally, fizzling into the void as Mark let Taeyong’s natural leadership guide him along.

He was unnervingly handsome, even at 18 years old; a sharp jawline already set in place and equally sharp features when cast in the right shadows. Taeyong filled the leader position with everything he was, and he had the kind of face to fit the bill too. But shine a light onto him and Taeyong is another barely adult teen, with a soft heart and soft eyes under all the makeup, and a penchant for stuffed animals. Mark was just starting to grow out of them too, but Taeyong loved his so much Mark thought what's so bad about keeping a few.

Everything was so big at S.M and Taeyong helped it feel small enough to handle, taking time out of his day to help Mark with rap training and dance practice when Mark knew well that Taeyong had other things to attend to. Of course the other trainees were there as well, a guiding hand on his back to get him acclimated to the sensation, yet Taeyong is always there. As an older member, he was one of the only ones that was doing what Mark was doing too- rapping and dancing. He even helped him with some schoolwork as he prepared for his entrance exam to SOPA.

He told him, “You’ll be better than me by next year,” with the widest smile, and Mark couldn’t help but believe him, even if he didn’t want to.

In his head, Mark set the constant reminder to himself to repay Taeyong back, in any way that he could. He owed it to him. Which is exactly why the first time Taeyong asked for something from Mark, his first instinct was to obey and say yes, even when it was something as egregious as:

"Will you kiss hyung?" Taeyong asked cheekily.

Mark is shocked, his thirteen year old brain short circuiting at the thought of giving Taeyong, possible future groupmate, a kiss. A Kiss.

“Me?” he asked back, voice cracking. Way to go. The other older trainees laughed and giggled, half telling Mark to do it while the other half tell Taeyong to stop, _you’re scaring the kid_. “Give you?” His Korean was still a little rough at the edges, and the fear running through him isn’t helping.

“Ah, you don’t have to Mark. He was just joking around,” Johnny piped up, adding the clarification in English, just in case.

"Um, why?" Mark hoped he wasn't being rude.

"Just because," Taeyong replied with a smile.

The way he said it made Mark believe this wasn’t some sort of gag, something to hold over Mark’s head as an embarrassing “remember when” moment. He didn’t seem like that kind of person, at least not for something that wasn’t very blatantly a joke that was meant to be poked at and repeated. Maybe he really did want to give Taeyong a kiss- the repayment back for his kindness- because with little to no thought later, Mark went on his tiptoes and ever so gently kissed Taeyong’s cheek with a little _smeck_.

He couldn’t tell if Taeyong expected it or not, though his nervous laugh told him perhaps he didn’t. The other trainees stared back with wide eyes, and Mark felt his ears burn as he blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

“No, hey. What’re you sorry for?” he asked gently, hand reaching out as Mark took a step back. "It’s fine, I asked you to.”

"Um. Okay," Mark said lamely. Taeyong laughed at that.

"You'll only do that for hyung right?"

"Yeah," Mark answered. Only for him.

(3)

“Why, do you _not_ want to kiss him anymore?”

“Well, no, I just- I don’t... Isn’t it weird to be asking me when I’m like 22 now?” Mark deflects, hands fidgeting in his lap. “Like I did it when I was a baby but I’m not a baby anymore. And Taeyong isn’t my mom or anything, right?”

“16 is hardly a baby,” Yuta scoffs. “You can just tell him no, you’ve done it before.”

“Yeah, but that’s mean.”

Yuta sighs deeply, fingers scratching at the fabric of Mark’s sweatpants. “Taeyong isn’t gonna blow his top because you don’t want to give him a kiss, Mark.”

Mark purses his lips, turning back to stare blankly at the television that plays some Netflix show the both of them sat down for. He might not get angry over it, but Mark really doesn't want to hurt his feelings either.

Hyuck slams open the door to the dorm, sitting in the doorway to take off his shoes while immediately starting to talk about who knows what and startling both of them. “- literally swallowing the rocks, they’re so weird. Anyway, Mark can I borrow your headphones- hey. What’s the long face?”

“They’re in my room, on my desk” Mark says right as Yuta replies over him, “Mark wants Taeyong to stop asking for kisses.” Betrayed, Mark looks back to Yuta with big eyes, whispering _oppa_.

“Kiss him on the mouth,” Hyuck replies, disappearing into Mark’s room and cutting off his own sentence. Mark blinks owlishly.

“What’d you say?”

“I said kiss him on the mouth,” comes back Hyuck’s slightly distant voice. “It’s unexpected; edgy, out of character, y’know?” He comes out of Mark’s room with his Beats and also in the hoodie he left on his bed. Hyuck shoves his feet into his sneakers, white socked heels out, and leaves without a goodbye.

There’s silence in the dorm save for whatever plays on the television. After a minute, Yuta finally pipes up with, “Well, he’s not wrong.”

Mark huffs and pouts as he crosses his arms, Yuta laughing at his childishness. He pets Mark’s head and calls him cute, saying he did ask about what he should do and now he has a solution. It’s so ridiculous to him that he doesn’t even try sleeping on it.

And yet...

“Mark, honey. Give hyung a kiss?”

He's reminded exactly of the words Donghyuck said not even a week earlier, steeping on them like tea leaves in a glass pot. It was only meant as a back-up plan; still it becomes the first thought when Taeyong asks him once more.

Mark can hear murmuring behind him as he fists his hands and walks over. The other members grin at him, as they always do now whenever Taeyong asks for a display of affection. He quickly glances over to Hyuck, who waves him along, eyes glinting in excitement and Mark bites the insides of his cheeks raw.

Taeyong has his head tilted upwards a little, still looking expectantly at Mark as he gets closer. Taking in a deep breath, Mark bends down and turns his face, leaning in to smack a kiss right on Taeyong’s lips.

Hyuck, of course, is the first to hoot and holler about it, laughing in delight with his hands clutching his sides. Johnny whistles loudly, and everyone else seems to get a pretty good kick out of it too. When Mark looks at Taeyong, he's frozen still with his hand touching his lips, shocked eyes looking through Mark.

"You wanted a kiss right?" Mark asks, hoping his palpating heart doesn't make his words shake.

“Y-yeah.”

Mark gives a singular nod before heading back to his seat. “Good.”

(4)

For a while, Taeyong stopped asking for kisses.

Originally, every few weeks or so, he would try his luck and ask Mark, though lately it’s been petering into nothing. Mark might almost admit that he misses it- misses the chance and knowing he’s one of the only members granted the privilege of kissing Lee Taeyong. Now on the occasion that he did ask, when Mark gets close enough to threaten Taeyong with a kiss- a real kiss- he’ll back down with a laugh, petting Mark’s head like an owner with their overeager puppy.

Eventually, Taeyong didn’t ask anymore for who knows why. There’s no reason to be thinking so hard about it when he’s obviously already reached his end goal, but Mark somehow feels like he’s stopped something he didn’t actually hate as much as he thought he did. He dwells- because of course he does- during all the idle time they have where Taeyong would normally ask him but doesn’t. The dressing rooms never felt so slow to Mark.

“Mark?” Taeyong asks carefully.

Pavlov; when Taeyong starts a sentence in that tone of voice, it’s almost always followed by the request for a kiss, and Mark responds just as quickly as if he did. So he gets up and moves closer to where Taeyong sits in the chair, legs pulled up onto it as he plays his game. And Mark bends down, lips pursed and ready.

But unlike himself, Taeyong jerks away to call someone's name as Mark is centimeters away from him, head turning the other direction completely right before Mark is able to kiss him on the mouth.

A pang of hurt runs through Mark’s chest as he backs up, and for some reason, he curiously feels his eyes water too. “Um…”

“Oh,” Taeyong says surprised when he turns his head back. “What’s up?”

“You called me hyung, I don’t- I don’t know.”

“I did? Oh, well I didn’t mean to.” He reaches up to cup Mark’s face, thumb running over his cheekbone. “You should lay down, hmm? You look tired.”

“Y-yeah. I will.”

[“Taeyong hates me,” Mark says resolutely, burying himself further into Hyuck’s bed covers as the other eats his takeout. “He rejected me.”

“God, you’re so dramatic. Weren’t you just telling me you were tired of Taeyong asking you for kisses and now you’re heartbroken he didn’t let you give him one? Taeil won’t even think about giving me a kiss. Think about me, Mark.”

“You’re not helping.”

“I’m putting things into perspective. Imagine you’re me: I ask Taeil why he doesn’t want to kiss me when I kiss him all the time. He says he just likes it when I do it to him.” Hyuck puts down his chopsticks to clap his hands. “Ask him. Tell him he hurt your feelers.”]

(5)

“Do you hate me?” Mark asks, breathing heavily from the run he took up the S.M building to catch Taeyong on time. Taeyong looks shocked, and Mark realizes he asked the wrong thing.

“No, of course not.”

“Then why didn’t you… Um, okay. Never mind. It’s okay.”

“What?” Taeyong presses, turning to face him completely. “Is this about-”

“No,” Mark spits out quickly. “It’s nothing.”

“Mark, did you want to give me a kiss?” He bites his cheek, eyes darting around the room even as Taeyong tries to catch it. Taeyong lets out a sigh and moves from his chair to the couch, patting the cushions beside him. Still hesitant, Mark shuffles over, sitting closer to the edge than to Taeyong.

"I thought you didn't want them anymore so I stopped asking," Taeyong starts. “And I thought you didn’t want people to see. Am I right?”

“Yes.” Taeyong raises his eyebrow at him. “But I don’t… I don’t mind. Anymore.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Okay.” Mark feels his face burning as he sits there. Was that a confession? Should he leave?

“Then,” Taeyong says, leaning slightly closer, “can you give me one now?”

Mark almost squeaks when he does, leaning back just a little to calm his beating heart. Taeyong watches him the whole time with a gentle expression, almost asking him _please?_ Belatedly, Mark nods, palms sweating as he sits straight again. He leans forward until they’re centimeters apart and then hesitates, breath caught in his lungs.

It’s Taeyong who closes the distance, who gives Mark the softest of all the kisses they’ve shared and makes his heart race even more. And then Mark realizes maybe he never really hated them in the first place.

"We'll be heading out soon," the manager says, popping their head into the dressing room. There's a loud chorus of yeses- unavoidable given the 23 members that occupy it. Luckily they were given a large room to share, or rather two rooms with the divider knocked from between them; unluckily, 23 people is not an ideal number of people to have to get dressed and styled in only one room.

Taeyong claps his hands together, energy running high before they go out for the awards show. His eye makeup is done boldly to compensate for half his face being covered, and Mark watches how the shimmer along his lower lashline shines with every tilt of his head.

He puts his mask on and stands next to Taeyong, the other members who have their makeup done walking over to wait by the door as well. Out of habit, someone takes out their phone for group pictures, likely for Instagram, and Mark gets dragged by his cuffs to be in one. He should probably update his Instagram too, he thinks.

Then, almost out of nowhere, Taeyong tugs on his sleeve and asks, “Minhyungie, kiss?”

Uncaring about ruining any photo, Mark walks over, pulling down his mask under his chin and pursing his lips for Taeyong to bend forward and kiss him. It’s completely unromantic, given they’re on a time crunch and also in a room where the ratio of hairspray of clean oxygen is 2:1, yet Mark wouldn’t trade it for the world. Faintly, he can hear the noise of a camera shutter that he ignores.

"You're seriously so cute," Mark hears Doyoung say from next to him. "Ask Taeyongie if he'll let you give me a kiss sometime."

“My God, they're noodling in the background. Jeez, these people,” Hyuck mutters loudly. Mark turns to stick his tongue out at Hyuck, watching him zoom into their faces as his brows smooth out, and then close out of the photos app without even deleting the picture. “Sickening.”

With a laugh, Mark covers his face, only for Taeyong to rub his nose against Mark’s, mask on and all. The filters are dirtied now and they’ll have to both grab a new one before heading out, but Mark can’t be worried about that anymore.

+1

Mark rarely cries, if ever- never, if he can help it. It doesn’t mean anything, he just feels as if he doesn’t need to.

But sometimes, once in a blue moon, on the days when he feels everything a little too much, he’ll cry. At best, he’ll be in his room and no one will bother him, and he can wail an hour away and come out fine. At the worst, he’ll be out in the living room or with another member, and his brain cannot fathom one more second of not crying, so he’ll lose it right there.

Like today.

Most of the time, whoever is with him will leave him alone with a pat on the back and some words of reassurance. If it's someone like Doyoung or Yuta, they'll hug him and let Mark snuffle into their shoulder, but they won't say anything to him or press him for an explanation. Today, he’s with Taeyong, and Taeyong will not leave him alone even if Mark asked him to. He’s grateful for Taeyong’s persistence and also cursed.

“Hyung, I- I’m okay. Really, seriously,” Mark stutters between tears. His hoodie is pulled all the way up to try to shroud his face, but it clearly didn’t work since Taeyong immediately noticed when Mark started to cry silently.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong first?" Taeyong's hand comes to pull the hood off his head so he can touch the back of Mark's neck. The other comes to wipe his tears away, and Mark is curled in on himself so much, Taeyong could probably put him right into his lap without much trouble. Mark wouldn't complain.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just a lot."

"What is?"

"Everything! Nothing, it's stress."

"Minhyung-ah." Taeyong holds him close, laying down to bring Mark with him on top of his chest, hand running through his hair as he shushes Mark. He tries to explain through broken sentences and choked breaths that he's actually fine but he rubs his face into Taeyong's shirt anyway and lets the older help calm him down.

He can hear some of the other members shuffling around when he tries muffling his own crying, most likely wondering what the noise in the living room was. Taeyong must wave them away because it's gone as fast as it comes.

“I’m fine,” Mark says after a minute, wiggling in Taeyong’s hold. “It’s nothing.”

“Stay with hyung a little longer, hmm?”

Every time Taeyong asks, Mark will fall for it. The longer Mark stays, the more prone he is to opening up, and Taeyong knows that just as well as him. Still, it doesn't stop Mark from staying, eyes fluttering shut. He doesn't know how long they stay like that, with Mark listening to the steady beating of Taeyong's heart.

After a while, Taeyong asks quietly, "Are you okay?"

Mark doesn't say anything, only huffs lightly to let Taeyong know he can hear him.

"What do you need? Hyung will get it for you."

"Kiss me, please," Mark pouts, tears still clinging to his lashes. Taeyong cooes and wipes away the lingering tears, pursing his lips for Mark to go and follow.

Mark does, gladly, stretching up to press his mouth softly against Taeyong’s. His kisses must be medicine, Mark thinks, because he can already feel himself calming down faster than before, half lidded eyes glancing at where they meet. It makes him giddy, and he leans in as close as he can to kiss him harder.

++1

As Mark discovered early on, he sometimes likes being coddled.

Not excessively, and only during very specific times of the day. In the same way that he clings to Winwin and tells him how cute he is, and Winwin will give him the half-smile of mild discontent but overall warmth, he likes it when he gets hugged back. Hugged back- as in it doesn’t count when Donghyuck comes up behind him and wraps his arms around his ribs, squeezing him tight and licking the back of Mark’s neck to annoy him.

He likes when he hugs Taeil and Taeil will hug him back; he likes opening his arms up for Yuta to run into rather than the other way around. Sometimes, Mark likes being coddled like that.

Today, he’s feeling particularly touchy because he’s walking around the dressing room, trying to catch the attention of some of the members. There’s still some time before they head out to perform, and his makeup is already done, meaning he has close to nothing to do except wander. He could sit, he could listen to music and calm down, but he wants Taeyong- or more specifically, Taeyong’s kisses.

When he finds him, Taeyong is sitting in the sectioned off area of the dressing room where they change, next to the sparkly replacement stage jackets, the embellishments tinkling quietly when Taeyong shakes his leg.

“Hyung,” Mark calls out, standing in the doorway.

“Hmm? What’s up?” Taeyong looks up briefly from his phone and pats his lap, and Mark crawls into it without hesitation, thighs bracketing Taeyong’s hips and Taeyong’s arm coming to wrap around Mark’s waist. “Something wrong?”

“No…”

“Do you want a kiss?” Taeyong asks, fingers petting through Mark’s hair. He’s beyond denying it by now so he tilts his head up, lips pursed slightly in anticipation.

A small laugh, and then their lips are meeting. Mark always forgets how soft Taeyong is as he melts into the sensation, a whimper breaking from the back of his throat. With a finger under his chin, Taeyong tilts Mark’s head a little and sweeps the tip of his tongue against the seam of Mark’s mouth.

He whines when Taeyong’s tongue touches his, carefully running over his palate, and Taeyong’s hand trails lower and lower on his back. Trying to bring his head back so Taeyong might kiss him deeper, Mark places a hand on Taeyong’s chest when he can’t, blush sitting high on his cheeks. “Wait, hyung, not here.”

"Nothing they haven't seen," Taeyong reassures, catching his lips again. The MCountdown dressing room never felt so empty- only Mark and Taeyong together, with all the stylists and members beyond the curtain fading into background noise.

(His lips don’t leave Taeyong’s skin the whole time they’re pressed together, quietly enjoying their time even in the back of the dressing room. If he wasn't kissing Taeyong, he was nibbling down his jawline or sucking on his tongue. He’s a little sloppy after when they call for standby, spit on his chin and connecting their mouths, but Mark doesn’t care. Maybe his favorite thing in the whole world is being able to give Taeyong kisses like that.)

**Author's Note:**

> banging hands on table markyong kisses markyong kisses markyong kisses
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/ivyclvb)


End file.
